The Internet has greatly increased the level of communication in society. People have obtained through the Internet in the last few years ready access to a quantity and variety of information not dreamed of merely 10 years ago.
The Usenet provides several thousand news groups through which people may exchange ideas with others who have a common interest in the topic of the particular news group. People often seek to have questions answered by posting questions on a news group concerned with the general subject of the question. Numerous news groups relate to technical topics, such as computer hardware or software. Unfortunately, there is no assurance of quality of the answers received. The person posing the question is unlikely to have specific knowledge of the credentials of the persons supplying the answers. Also, news group are, unfortunately, often plagued by loquacious types who having limited knowledge of the topic are more than eager to offer information of dubious veracity. Often discussions disintegrate into antagonistic banter.
In connection with news groups there is also the issue of timing. The lifetime of a question posted to a news group may vary for different users (potential readers and answer providers) depending on the policy of their Internet Service Provider (ISP) related to how long postings are kept on the news server. Thus if an expert who could provide a good answer to a question does not consistently check a particular news group, the question may be missed.
Expert answer web sites which provide a more controlled forum for posing questions and supplying answers have also been developed. Two such web sites are www.expertsexchange.com and www.askme.com. These sites allow a user to select a category under which to list a question. A would be answerer then peruses the questions listed under chosen categories for questions they believe are within their field of expertise. A user can also select a particular expert to pose a question to based on a few paragraphs describing the expert's area of expertise.
The two web sites suffer from the drawback that the matching up of questions and experts is dependant on the experts perusal of the current pending questions. The process of matching up questions and experts is not systematic. Another issue relates to the timeliness with which answers can be obtained. The subjects which dominate the two sites relate to technical computer matters. Computer development work is more often then not undertaken under circumstances of pressure to complete projects within a specified time in order for an enterprise to be competitive. A user may pose a question which is not seen until too late by an expert who only undertakes the time consuming process of perusing new questions every so often. Given the prevailing time consciousness that affects many users seeking advise through this type of web site, what is needed is a system that provides more timely delivery of answers.
What is further needed is a system and method for system that automatically identifies suitable experts for answering a question, and ascertains if they can answer the question.
What is needed is a system which takes into account the past performance of the experts, in determining whether to refer questions to them.
What is further needed is a system and method which generally overcomes the above mentioned shortcomings in prior art Internet information resources.